"It was a quick hello on the phone and that was it," Pat Knight told the Enterprise. "We recruited the heck out of the kids. He had nothing to do with that. I mean, he just was excited we were recruiting Indiana again and wanted to say hello to them and that was it.

"At least I'm not paying them," Pat Knight continued. "The NCAA should look into guys that are paying players and not worry about guys that are doing it the right way. ... I don't care if my dad is a celebrity or not. I think it's (expletive), honestly. The guy is my dad. If he wants to say hello to a recruit, he can. If we get reprimanded, fine. They need to check into guys that are outright cheating instead of nickel-dime stuff like that."

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson told the Star he couldn't comment on the situation, but added that, "Generally speaking, telephone calls to prospects can only be made by coaching staff members or those listed in the exceptions."

Lamar's interim athletic director and compliance director, Jason Henderson, said in an email that the school is "working through our internal process along with consultation with the Southland Conference and NCAA."